The Pawn
by Pechark
Summary: A story where Grievous survived his encounter with ObiWan on Utapau. Third and final chapter will have Darth Vader vs. General Grievous! R&R appreciated. Third chapter is now up!
1. Stalemate

_Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of the characters, locations or any other Star Wars-y stuff. George Lucas does. _

Grievous looked hard at Kenobi. His cloak off, his sabers starting to whirl.

Kenobi looked hard likewise at Grievous, his saber activated, his hand forward in a battling stance.

The near pure mechanical Grievous began to spin, unlike what any organic being could have done, two of his lightsabers until they were a mere blur. Bringing his other two sabers behind, he slowly, his eyes intent on the prey, marched towards Kenobi.

Obi-Wan backed off, apprehensive of this unfeeling Kaleesh cyborg. But then he remembered. He used Soresu, and Grievous could try all he liked, but until there was an offensive weakness, Kenobi doubted the General could harm him. And when that weakness came, Obi-Wan's lightsaber would cut the Separatist general down with a quick flick of the wrist. Kenobi waited, until the General would strike.

Grievous was closer now. _Surely the Jedi scum will back off now. _His mind starting to back off itself from this seemingly terror starved display, Grievous brought his sabers from the ground and jumped, his four sabers flailing. Now that was a show that would surely scare Kenobi. Certainly, Kenobi moved back, but only for a second, bringing his saber down and cutting away one of Grievous' hands. The saber, a three fingered hand still clutching it, fell away cluttering to the floor.

The General landed, but badly, the early injury shocked him. He stared at Kenobi incredulous. Kenobi smiled, almost cheekily, the General should not have been flailing his arms like anything. Then again, the General still beat Kenobi by a saber count of 3 to 1.

Suddenly, Clonetroopers from every doorway rushed into the hanger, cocking their guns and shooting down every battle droid in sight. The General wheeled around as he looked upon the scene. He turned to Kenobi.

"Army or not, you must realise that you are doomed."

However, Grievous was not prepared to take the Clonetrooper onslaught, and ran towards the back of the hanger, jumping into his customised wheel bike. The bike activated, and before Obi-Wan realised what was happening, Grievous had shot through the hanger and was now jumping over the edge with the extra legs. In a split second, Obi-Wan jumped upon his trusty steed, Boga, and followed down after the general.

The chase was on, Kenobi slowly catching up with Grievous. Grievous looked around him, seeing and Obi-Wan, and cursed. This was going to be a more complex battle than he thought. Suddenly his eyes caught his blaster. That would do the job perfectly. Using two of his hands to keep at the wheel bike controls, he took his other hand, holding a blaster, and pointed it at the troublesome Jedi. Darting his head back and forth, he shot, as accurately as he could, at Obi-Wan.

Kenobi was a hard target, but the 15 metre long Boga was a different story. On his second shot, Grievous hit bang on on the feathered lizard's shoulder, Boga shrieked with pain, and stopped in her tracks.

Obi-Wan knew that it was the end of the chase for Boga, and so without any thought, he automatically jumped for the wheel bike, guiding himself slightly with the Force. He landed upon one of the main wheel holders of the chassis, inches away from Grievous.

The General started with a cry, and in doing so took another hand off the controls. He took advantage of this however, and with the now spare hand, clutched at Obi-Wan's throat. In the blaster hand, he pointed it straight at his head.

"Foolish Jedi!" Grievous shouted over the roar of the giant wheel careering down the sink hole. "You will now taste the bitter sensation of death, which I have come so close to in the past!" Over the roar, however, Grievous didn't hear the activation of a lightsaber.

Obi-Wan brought the saber up in an uppercut slash, decapitating the whole of the arm that had been choking him. If having Obi-Wan jump on his wheel bike didn't freak out Grievous, this did. Grievous took the shot, but his mind already knew it was too late. Obi-Wan had jumped onto the wall of the sink hole, and now with the aid of Force jumps, was clambering back up. The General waited a couple of seconds, judging his next move, before jumping off and stealthily following.

Obi-Wan quickly found Cody, and spoke equally so.

"Listen, Grievous will come back, I can sense it, but don't shoot him while we're duelling, it might have dangerous implications on me. Do you understand?"

"All clear, General." _It made no difference anyway_, Cody thought. _He'll be dead soon._

General Grievous came up immediately, his fully operational arms grasping lightsabers. Obi-Wan sighed, back to square one.

Grievous ran forward, his arms spinning wildly, when he engaged Obi-Wan, their sabers screaming as they bashed away for a couple of minutes.

Kenobi's arms began slowly to tire from the attack, he jumped back, and then, before Grievous knew what was happening, he leaped onto one of the hanger's support beams. There he caught his breath.

The General looked up.

"Aha, the cowardly bird stands upon the tree where the canine cannot reach. Come down little bird, and I will cut your throat." The threats passed over the Jedi's head.

"And yet you were the one who desperately tried to escape from me on Utapau. A poor performance, my dear general. Are you losing your touch?"

Grievous growled.

"A tactical retreat, something that a mediocre strategist like you would not have heard of."

"In other words running up the tree."

The General's hot blooded mind could not take this banter any longer. Especially when it was calling _him_ a coward. He bent down, and jumped, his mechanical legs able to mimic the Force aided feat that Kenobi had displayed.

He glared at Obi-Wan.

"I am thirsty, Jedi, I am parched. And it is not water that I crave."

With this hellish hint, Grievous leaped forward, his two sabers pointed forwards at the same point-Kenobi's head.

Obi-Wan decided to take a risky manoeuvre. He ran forwards towards the general as he was in the air. With a mechanical gasp, the Separatist General realised that Kenobi was behind him. He twisted, and landed facing the Jedi, a screech as his clawed feet stopped him against the durasteel beam.

"I am made of sturdier awareness than a droid, Jedi." Again he ran forward, swirling the sabers around and around, bewildering Obi-Wan. But Obi-Wan already had a plan. Grievous was easily distracted, all he had to do was focus on one blade, and-

He took his saber forward and hit one of the whirlpools of light emitting from Grievous. Grievous, with a cry, stopped, and looked down. Falling to the ground was a third hand. He turned back to Obi-Wan, only to find that the Republic General he sought wasn't there. But behind him.

Grievous had no time to lose. Bending low, his left foot swept around, only to find Obi-Wan jumping over it. Obi-Wan smiled cheekily.

"And my awareness is just as sturdy, my friend."

"I will not have scum like you call me friend."

With a snarl, Grievous lashed at Kenobi. An intense clashing followed, Obi-Wan being lead backward as he blocked Grievous' every attempt.

Finally, Kenobi found himself against a wall. A cold, dark wall. Grievous ceased. Holding his saber back in a position prepared to slash, he glanced at Obi-Wan's lightsaber. Turning back, he spoke, a hideous air of relish in his voice.

"Your lightsaber will make a wonderful price for my three hands, Jedi." He could have stopped there, but his glee at the victory swelled his burnt head. "The great Republic general Obi-Wan Kenobi. Your kind will speak of you for years to come. But they will speak of me more highly. I will see what I can do to have you honoured with a small statue on some faraway Outer Rim planet, for you have certainly been an honourable oppon-GAAAH!"

Kenobi Force-pushed Grievous back along the beam. Grievous lost his footing, and slipped down. In a split second, he dropped his final lightsaber and with the last free hand clung on tightly, the metal fingers carving into the beam. Kenobi was not in a hurry to give him a chance. Throwing his saber, he directed it towards the clinging arm. It sliced through the elbow, sending a cursing Grievous down to the floor. The lightsaber span round the hanger, and found itself in the trusty hands of Kenobi once more.

The general, meanwhile got up, his breathing weakened, the inhales and exhales echoing around. He looked up to Kenobi. Panting in between each word, he spoke.

"You…will…surely…die…Jedi. I will…not…forget…this…infringe-infrin…this…attack…on my…honour."

Turning away, he staggered away from the hanger.

Kenobi suddenly realised the situation he was in. He was letting the Separatist general go. And why weren't the clonetroopers pursuing?

Running along the beam, he jumped down. It was then that something told him not to. A disturbance. Their battle had come to a stalemate, and he sensed that that would be their only time they came lightsaber-to-lightsaber. But it would also be the General's last stalemate.

"I'm sorry sir."

Commander Cody's voice. Obi-Wan turned around.

"Sorry for what, Commander?"

Then he saw Commander Cody, a gun in his hand, pointing at Kenobi. And the dozens of clonetroopers surrounding him. Guns in their hands. Pointed at Kenobi. Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows.

"Oh."


	2. Revelation

General Grievous sat by his desk, moving holograms representing the various CIS ships to one place, and then hurriedly moving them somewhere else. Something had happened, and he didn't like what was going on. He had been set go to Mustafar earlier that day, to join his Separatist allies and to be introduced by Darth Sideous' accomplice Darth Vader, who was to be there to spear head the Separatist operation after the tragic death of Dooku. Grievous smiled to himself. At least getting rid of Dooku got him one step closer to leadership of the CIS, but the damned Nute Gunray had taken the leadership role.

But then something had happened. He had received a transmission from a panicky Nute Gunray with strict orders not to take the trip to Mustafar. It was then that lightsaber clashes had been heard, and the transmission ended with a scream that could only belong to Nute. Without a doubt, Grievous could very well be the last remaining Separatist, apart from Lord Sideous and Vader of course.

Grievous knew that he needed to speak with the CIS benefactor, but that was impossible as he had never been considered important enough to be allowed a private channel with him. He needed to let Sideous contact _him _first.

Grievous sighed; his breathing had got even harder since the battle with the foul Jedi Kenobi. Grievous still thought that the Jedi were alive. Since the battle, he had considered himself dishonoured, and had shut himself away on his new ship, the _Treachery_, and would only work on tactics, he was weakened now to a point that field battle was impossible, but he could still wield his sabers with menace.

He had no idea of the Republic collapsing that was going on outside; all that mattered was that he was victorious in battle. There was no company for him but droids. The rest of the Separatists down to the pilot were in Mustafar, awaiting Vader.

He scratched his fingers into the metal of the desk. As usual, they had considered Grievous unworthy in rank to go. And they needed someone to continue the War. Dump everything on the weakling cyborg, that's all that seemed to be done these days. But Grievous had a scheme in his mind. A scheme that would overturn those pompous Separatist enslavers, and destroy the cruel Republic which had sided against his enemies. Then he would be supreme leader of the galaxy.

Of course, if the Neimoidian screams were anything to go buy, someone had done half the job for him.

But scheming for galactic takeover was not what he needed to do now. The Republic fleet were mere parsecs away, as if he needed those damned droids telling him that every hour or so. It was then that a pair of battle droids stepped into the room. Grievous looked up, disturbed. One battle droid, adorned with yellow decoration, a leader, began to speak.

"Lord Grievous-"

What would be it's last words were interrupted by the general's start. He leapt from the chair, and strode over, his yellow eyes gleaming with madness. He towered over the two droids.

"WHAT IS IT THIS TIME! DO YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THE DANGER WE ARE IN! FOR ONCE BRING ME NEWS THAT IS OF WORTH, YOU USELESS HUNK OF JUNK!"

And in his senile madness, Grievous picked up the battle droid by the neck, and threw it against one of the walls of his office. The battle droid slid down, intact, but several joints bent in ways that had never been designed to do so. Grievous turned to the second, plain droid.

"What is it you want? Or have you simply come to tell me that the enemy are a parsec closer than earlier?"

The droid spoke, and Grievous could have sworn he heard a terrified tentativeness in it.

"Darth Sideous requests a hologram with you, Lord Grievous, he is awaiting in the hologram room-"

The droid had barely finished when it was toppled over as the General brushed past it, already half way down the corridor.

The general walked carefully down the pathway along one of the dirty back alley ways of Coruscant. His face, or more correctly his mask, was masked itself in a grotty robe. Grievous knew that if he was found in this Republic hive, he would be immediately arrested and the war would end.

And galactic dominion would be an impossibility.

Personally, he could not see why it had not occurred to Sideous that Coruscant was such a silly place to go, it was ripe for Grievous to get plucked away. It was almost as if he was asking for Grievous to die, and for the Republic to win.

Sideous, nonetheless, and for what were obviously his own reasons, had instructed the General to speak with him on Coruscant. Business of what would be spoken had not been specified, but it was sure to be business of the Separatist kind. From there, Grievous was to go through a network of back alley ways to come to a 'large building' with the CIS symbol upon it. There he would meet with Sideous, and also the accomplice Darth Vader for the first time. There was something about meeting Vader though that gave Grievous a fearful shiver. After all, his CIS colleagues had been awaiting a meeting with Vader…

Grievous finally came to a cul-de-sac of an alley way, and sure enough, a large building lay before him. It was a blue-grey in the shadows, but sure enough, there was an unmistakeable CIS symbol.

Grievous took a deep breath. This was it. He stepped into the building, and looked forward.

The building turned out to be a single room, but it was near pitch black. However, two figures sat at the very end of the room. No features could be made out of them in this light and distance, but from one came an ominous heavy breathing. Grievous knew the breather was Vader; from the holograms he had seen of Sideous, Sideous was merely a cloaked figure, with no apparent breathing difficulties. The General walked forward, his long strides taking him quickly across the room, minute creaks and clicks as his worn joints moved.

As he moved closer, he was finally able to make out more detail. Sideous, who was now recognisable as a cloaked figure, was seated. Only the lower half of his face, a hideous twisted mess of wrinkles, was barely visible. Vader was a wholly different matter. Standing tall, he was nearly as tall as Grievous. Two shining black eyes like bottomless pits surveyed the room. A triangular respiratory intake constantly cycling air into Vader's lungs. Shoulder armour, a protective helmet. The General's eyes took all of these details at a glance. But it was the breathing and the controls on the chest that interested Grievous. This Vader was a cyborg, just like he was. General Grievous knew protocol. He bowed low, looking up only after he was done.

"It is an honour to finally meet you in person, my Lord."

Sideous smiled.

"Oh, you have met me once in person already."

Cogs in Grievous' mind started to stop.

"With all due respect, my Lord, I believe you to be mistaken. Never once have I met you in all of your physical majesty."

"Are you arguing with me, Grievous?"

The General started. That smile at the start had been a cruel deception, this wasn't a friendly man.

"No, no, Lord. Whatever you say, but I beg to ask, when was it we met?"

Sideous grinned; yellowing teeth peeked out from under his lip.

"You have leaded me further into my intended proceedings faster than I thought you would General, but no matter, it allows for me to deal with my problem quicker, and I can resume my duties."

Little of this made any sense to Grievous. Duties? Problem? There was obviously the problem of the CIS losing, but this sounded more personal.

"I will be frank, Grievous, you are the last of the Separatists, the rest are,"

and here his mouth turned into melodramatic sorrow, "dead. Killed, every last one of them."

Grievous' fists clenched. He had been right.

"Lord, how will we survive now?"

"Simplicity in itself, Grievous, there is no point surviving, the Confederacy of Independent Systems has lost against the superior might of the Republic."

Grievous' mind whirred. Superior? Sideous was _praising _the damned Republic.

"Your only option is to, surrender. We can only hope that Palpatine's mercy will be greater towards you than it was to the others."

"Palpatine? He killed the others? The damned piece of _poodoo_."

"I would be careful not to say that in front of him."

"Huh, what can that balding old man do?"

Sideous' lips pursed. Enough was enough. The poor thing had to know.

"Grievous, you have to surrender to the Republic. There's nothing you can do. The war was impossible against the Republic from the start."

Grievous' eyes widened.

"So why did you fund us?"

"Because funding you would get my best interests seen to. And my best interests are galactic domination."

"You still have a plan for us?"

"Yes, but separate ones. Your plan is much different I'm afraid."

"Tell me! What is it?"

Sideous could barely suppress himself, it was so ironic, and hilarious, placing suspense up and up like a tower in Grievous' mind.

"Your plan is for you to die."

"To die? I don't care what Palpatine does, I will not die by his hand!"

"Then you can die by mine, not that it makes any difference."

"By yours? And why would you do that?"

Grievous could smell treachery, but he was desperately trying to deny it.

"Because, my non-friend, Palpatine and I are one and the same."

He lifted his hood slightly so that the whole face was there, puffing around two yellow dots. While heavily disfigured, Palpatine's features were clearly visible. Grievous stepped back, his eyes now widened with fear.

"But, but how?"

"Do you still not understand? I have been backing both sides! Been both their leaders! I have been pulling strings in this war, in this great master plan, since when you were still full bodied in Kalee! The CIS were merely a front for me to create chaos, and when there is chaos, there is the Dark Side! And in the midst of the chaos, I would organise the deaths of the CIS, and dishonour the Jedi! And then I would initiate my New World Order, which as I speak is being organised by my greatest admirals! I tell you now, that you have done well Grievous. You were meant to die on Utapau, but I underestimated your skills. I will not do so again!"

General Grievous stood there, incredulous, his mind processing this information. He had been nothing but a pawn in a grand plan for galactic dominion. A pawn who's fate had been sealed before the game. And here now, both his master and his nemesis were condemning him. Well he would survive; he would be a thorn that grew into an infection. He would destroy the traitor Palpatine, and then he would rule. But first things first were to survive this attack.

"Coruscant will not be my rescheduled death planet."

"Oh, I fear it will, I fear it will."

Palpatine's face contorted as he grinned. He turned to Vader.

"Vader, dispose of my dear friend, his use has long since become redundant."


	3. Battle of the Cyborgs

Darth Vader walked slowly forward, activating his lightsaber.

"Remember me, Grievous?" Spoke the baritone voice, behind a menacing steady mechanical breath.

"It seems I am making many unexpected reunions today, so where might I have seen you before?"

Grievous' hands span as four sabers activated from their hilts.

"I was the man they called Skywalker."

Grievous would have raised his eyebrows if he had any.

"Skywalker?"

"_Formerly _Skywalker."

"Very well, _Formerly _Skywalker, let us see how your new cyborg body goes against my experienced one. And our secondary objective is to see what your breath vent looks like with a saber jammed through it." The pair was circling now, each one contemplating their tactics against the similar foe.

"Not exactly comedic material, Grievous, not when you must surely realise that your fate is sealed whether you kill me or not."

Grievous followed the hint, and his eyes glanced upwards towards Palpatine, his expression unfathomable. Did he have so much power to be a threat? Grievous, shamefully, did not want to find out. His ponderings were interrupted.

"Ha, your thoughts betray you."

"I feel no fear."

"Then you are a fool." And with this final comment, Vader stepped forward, bringing his saber into an elegant slash against Grievous. Grievous noticed how different a foe he was fighting since Obi-Wan. This would be a pushover.

"You haven't had much practice in this new body, have you?"

"With your mediocre skill, you _are _practice." Vader replied tauntingly as he brought his saber again in another swoop. Grievous snarled. The Sith taunt was getting at him.

"Then can you handle _this_?"

And he jumped, brandishing and spinning all four sabers. The Mataru user would not be able to handle this. That was where Grievous was wrong.

Vader stopped him in mid air, his left arm held out in front of him, the thumb and fore finger in a pincer motion.

"Speed and agility do not make the lightsaber wielder."

He released Grievous to the floor, and stepped forward, holding his lightsaber high and smashing it down against one of Grievous' sabers, raised just in time.

Vader raised his hand again, Grievous quickly getting up. Vader decided that he would have to up the battle a bit. Time to show who was boss.

He held his saber up, and slowly, but surely, a metal box (had it been there on purpose?) came from the shadows, and hit Grievous squarely from behind. Grievous cried, and fell back against a corner of the room. The box had knocked his bad breathing in, and he came forward, now gasping.

"I see you are now at my speed. I will enjoy this fight."

Grievous choked. Darth Vader certainly was enjoying this.

"I am still the cyborg I was, Darth." And with that, he came forward, bringing all four sabers into a combined slash. Vader likewise blocked the attack with a slash across himself, and in the process cut off one of Grievous' hands, rolling into the shadowy darkness. Vader smiled behind his mask.

"You really should look after those."

Grievous snarled.

"A warrior like you should be taking this battle seriously!"

"I do not have my life to fear, why should I take it seriously?"

With a cry of wound up rage, Grievous ran forward and span all of his sabers into action, pounding all of his sabers at Vader. The Sith was beginning to feel the pressure of Grievous, and now his hands were going everywhere trying to block Grievous' attacks.

For a split second, Grievous paused, and Vader immediately struck, slicing off another hand. Grievous barely noticed however, which surprised Vader, and immediately began the attack, catching the Sith off guard.

Vader was now fighting against less of the wily tactician, and more against the hardened rage filled warrior. Grievous' anger had gone into overdrive. His anger against the situation he had been put in, the treachery of this entire affair, the simple taunts which Vader so cleverly used to create doubt and hot headedness. But the doubt and hot headedness had developed effects that were not to Vader's advantage, and he now found himself helplessly trying to deflect every slash and stab. Grievous was more machine than living thing, but at this point, even more so.

And it was with a final unseen, defenceless slash that Vader's saber hand was cut away, revealing the various circuitries and wiring that worked it.

Grievous stepped back, surveying the chaos and damage he had caused, and liking it.

"Well, Vader, it appears, that you are finally going to meet an untimely end. And at such a young age. I feel desperately sorry for you, but that is the way of life. The higher must defeat the lower."

He stepped over Vader, and his two remaining hands began to spin, like deadly saws. This time, against an immobile enemy, the tactic would work.

Grievous turned to Palpatine.

"Say goodbye to your apprentice, Palpatine, Sideous, or whatever your real name is, and then I shall make good my escape. Then you will hear of Grievous again, and it will be an angry Grievous. A Grievous that wants you _dead._ Or I could kill you after this, if the time is right."

He turned back to Vader, and brought his sabers down.

They never made contact.

From the other side of the room, Blue electricity lit up Vader's armour and it reflected brilliantly. But that was not it's purpose. Instead, it hit Grievous squarely, and he fell back, dropping his two sabers. The creator of the electricity was of course Palpatine.

Palpatine stood up now, forcing his hatred into every volt, his teeth clenched. Grievous was kneeling on the ground, his head to the sky, and his arms held out before him. Electricity blasted it's way through all of his workings, and it eventually found it's way into the head. Electricity seemed to pour out through the eye holes, and orange flame was now visible flitting around Grievous' body.

Finally, feeling his power starting to weaken, Palpatine ceased the electrical barrage. Grievous was now no longer blue, but orange, he staggered around, almost drunk. But somehow he could still see. He strode over to Palpatine, shakily but with definite power. Palpatine's eyes widened to this seemingly impossible spectacle. On fire, but still alive? Grievous was tougher than expected. Suddenly, he found Grievous face to face with him. Half of his mask had now cracked off, and so his burnt husk of a real face, albeit on fire stared at him. Part of Palpatine told him to defend himself, but he was too much in awe at the spectacle. He barely acknowledged that Grievous had now clung onto his robes. And then the thing that had been Grievous spoke, it was a slobbering, barely possible to understand set of growl and grunts, coupled with a lot of coughs. But Palpatine could understand. And the message was not a good one:

"IN MY DEATH YOU WILL DIE ALSO!"

Abruptly, Grievous began shuddering, and then Palpatine realised, he was going to go off with a bang, and Palpatine would be a sticky mess on the wall if he was this close when it happened. With an angry cry, he pushed Grievous back with the force, catapulting him into the centre of the room. With a final scream, Grievous, Kaleesh warrior and last of the Separatists, exploded, sending fire and various parts of him around the room. Palpatine sighed. He was safe, at least. Now to tend to Vader.

He walked over to Vader, and helped the heavily breathing cyborg apprentice to stand up, but that appeared to not be the first thing he wanted to do. Instead he knelt.

"I apologise master, I have failed you. I should have been more skilful and have killed Grievous, not the other way around."

Palpatine raised Vader up, and began walking towards the room's secret exit, which would leave to private passage to the now Imperial Palace.

"It was not your fault that Grievous over powered you. That was your first real fight in your new…attire."

"Your mercy is gladly received, Master." Palpatine smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile. In his head, he was worried, however. If this was how his new apprentice fought, would he really be as useful as he thought he would be. Vader would be serviceable, but it looked like that upon getting him, he'd already need to replace him. He'd have to keep his eyes peeled for new blood…


End file.
